He Could Never
by Sally Under the Stars
Summary: High school AU ficlet of teenage Myka Bering's thoughts about her best friend, Pete Lattimer. Pyka. AU.


Shaking her head, Myka cursed to herself. She was so _distracted_ lately, and all because of the stupid, annoying, man-child named Pete Lattimer. Her eyes focused behind her glasses to try and finished the assigned reading, clearly not succeeding. With her pen tapping frustratedly against the stack of papers to her right she grumbled incoherently in time with the taps. Words spewing from her mouth with no one around to hear them. Though it was better that way, some of the things...they weren't exactly nice.

The grinning fool of a guy had thrown her off more than ever this year. Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer were notorious for being friends, and they were often the subject of people's conversations. It wasn't a surprise though, that Myka knew. They both did. He was the star of the football team, the jock, the womanizer. (Not that she really thought he was any good at it-_the womanizing_. He was good at football, she would give him that at least.) But her? She was a nerd, the bookworm, the one who talked to- well, no one except Pete. And no one really _wanted_ to talk to her either. Truthfully, Myka always felt a bit cheated in life, her younger sister Tracy was always in the limelight. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Really though, Myka would never want her sister to feel the way she did most (if not _all_) of the time. It was...nothing short of horrible. The only time when Myka didn't feel like a nobody, an outcast, a loser, a failure, a-

The only time Myka didn't feel like she was completely _worthless_, was when she was with Pete.

That being said, this year had been a struggle for her. Graduation was in two months, and of all talk floating around the school about 'prom-posals' and dresses and dates irked her to no end. It made her veins pop, teeth clench and blood boil. Even though she would _never_ in a _million_ years admit this to anyone, Myka was jealous...very jealous. No one would 'prom-pose' to her, no one would go with her, so she wouldn't buy a dress. She would never be good enough for that anyway.

Which lead her back to the original frustration, _Pete Lattimer_.

The _near_ insufferable man-child she called her best friend. Myka was certain his brain capacity in most situations didn't pass that of a twelve-year-old's. But really...that was okay. She found that most days of the week, her stress levels were so high she needed the comfort of his terrible puns or bear hugs. Which was also a problem on its own. Because she had- well, she had begun to _crave_ those bear hugs, those stupid puns and- _him_. She had always enjoyed being his friend...his Mykes (though she would never admit that), but this was more than just a need for comfort.

She...She wanted to be his. Be the girl he loved. Be the one he held hands with in the hallway, have him be the one who scares off all the people who try to crush her. Be the one who steals her away behind the bleachers to do things only they're allowed to know about.

But that wasn't going to happen.

She was Myka Bering. The runner up, the second best. Tracy was far better than she would ever be...Though younger, her sister was the pretty one, the one with friends. The popular princess who had been asked out by most of the school's male population. Myka could never be that girl...Pete had an image to maintain, right? Being his best friend already put enough strain on his reputation...that she knew. It had taken months for his football friends to stop teasing him all the time about her. She could still remember the rumours spreading around about them too. How he had apparently given her _sex_ in exchange for _straight 'A's_. It made Myka snort with laughter now, despite the small burning fire of betrayal in her heart. Even if that had happened, Pete would _never_ get straight 'A's.

That rumour had her hurt her for so long, and Myka would never forget how he stuck up for her. Screaming at every single one of his supposed 'buddies' until they stopped snickering whenever she was around….He had become her true protector that day. Though Myka hated to admit it, she felt safe around Pete, like she was- No...No he couldn't _love_ her. But they were friends. It may not be what she truly wanted, but it would do.

With a heavy sigh and her shoulders slumping, she rubbed her temples and groaned.

"I need to stop...it's never going to happen."

The bookworm knew she was right, Pete could never love her that way.

No one could.


End file.
